Bathtime
by keep-me-posted
Summary: No one ever said taking care of a dragon would be easy...or dry, for that matter.  HTTYD OneShot.


**Yay, I'm back to writing Hiccup/Toothless stories! Well, this was just going to be about Hiccup and Toothless, but then Astrid found her way into the story and I couldn't keep her out. :P I've had this idea for a while, but by the time I got down to writing it, I forgot how it was originally gonna go, lol. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**I do not own HTTYD or any of its characters.**

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"Hey, Toothless!" Hiccup said in a sing-song voice.

The black dragon lifted his head and looked over at his owner curiously.

"It's bathtime!" The boy lifted up his arms to show the sponge and bucket he was carrying.

Toothless snorted.

Hiccup's dropped his arms. "Oh, come on. Don't give me that look. I wouldn't have to bathe you so much, if you would just stop rolling in the mud all the time."

The dragon looked down at his own body. It was true; he was filthy. Not that he minded. He gestured his head over to the scene happening at their right.

"Wait for it..." Tuffnut said to the Zippleback he shared with his sister. They were both standing in a rather large puddle of mud. The left Zippleback head was slightly turned, a mud-ball resting on its snout.

Their eyes were on Ruffnut, either braiding her hair or trying desperately to get something out of it.

"Now!" The twin brother yelled as loud as Thor's thunder. The Zippleback head eagerly obeyed, slinging the mud right at Ruff's head in a direct hit. Immediately, Ruffnut turned her head and focused on her brother, wearing a scowl on her face.

Hiccup turned away from the scene knowing exactly how it was going to end. "That's different," He told Toothless, filling his bucket at the pond they were next to. "That's Ruff and Tuff. They don't mind their pets getting dirty. I do."

Toothless seemed to huff at the word 'pet', causing Hiccup to roll his eyes. "You know what I mean." He then dunked his sponge into the bucket, pulled it out and squeezed it so it wouldn't drip. "Alright, you ready, bud?"

The dragon shook his head and lied back down; purposely getting himself even more dirty.

"Okay," Hiccup shrugged. "But if you're not clean, Stoick's not gonna let you sleep in the house anymore."

Toothless pretended not to care.

"And if you're gonna stay dirty, I'd rather not fly with you anytime soon."

No response.

Hiccup pressed on. "Which means _you_ can't fly, either."

The Night Fury turned its head and gave him a look as if to say, _'And who's fault would that be?'_

The young viking gave an exasperated sigh. He knew Toothless didn't mean anything by it. He just happened to bring it up to avoid certain situations. Especially when those situations contained water and soap. "We're not discussing this right now. Please, just get into the lake. You really need a bath."

Toothless stubbornly shook his head, still resting on the dirt.

"Alright, fine." Hiccup said.

And then the dragon heard nothing.

At first he thought the boy had finally given up. Then he felt something soft and squishy on his tail. Toothless turned to find Hiccup scrubbing his right tail-fin with that sponge.

Alarmed, Toothless quickly sprang up and moved away from the water as quickly as possible. He couldn't fly, but he could certainly run.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled after him. "Stop!"

But he didn't.

The boy continued to chase his dragon around the pond, trying hard not to trip over anything. It didn't help that he was also carrying a bucket full of water along with him.

"I can do this all day, you know!" He was bluffing, of course. Only after running for a few seconds, his left leg was already starting to hurt. But he tried to ignore the pain. After all, the dragon really _did_ need a bath.

Suddenly, out of no where, Astrid appeared in front of Hiccup. He skidded to a stop, to avoid colliding with her. "Astrid, hi! W-what are you doing here?"

"You told me you were going to give Toothless a bath over an hour ago," She said, trying to look over his shoulder. "I was just wondering what was keeping you."

"N-Nothing," He answered, trying to wring out his wet tunic. "In fact, I'm just about done."

"Oh, really?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. "So, you don't need any help?"

"What makes you think I need help?"

Astrid shrugged her shoulders. "Oh...just a hunch."

Hiccup followed her gaze and glanced over his shoulder to see Toothless rummaging through his fish basket. "Toothless!" He exclaimed running forward. "No, bad dragon! You're not supposed to have those 'till _after_ your bath."

Astrid laughed.

He turned around and faced her. "Oh, so I'm sure you never have any trouble giving _your_ dragon a bath?"

"Not at all."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

She smirked. Suddenly, Ivy, Astrid's Deadly Nadder appeared behind her. Walking backwards towards the pond, the blond viking started clapping her hands and clicking her tongue to get the dragon to follow her.

"Ivy, come here, girl!" She called, when her boots slightly under the water.

The blue Nadder obeyed, running into the open pond, shaking her body as the water splashed over her.

Hiccup's jaw dropped.

Astrid smiled from across the way. "Good girl. Now stay put, okay?" She rubbed her dragon's neck, who listened, not moving an inch.

_Not possible_, He thought. After all, when it came to dragons, they could be just as stubborn as vikings.

"You seem surprised," The girl viking drawled, walking back towards Hiccup and grabbing for her bucket and sponge.

"H-How did you...?" He tried.

She shrugged, dipping her sponge into the filled bucket. "I guess I'm just a better trainer than you are."

Hiccup turned back at her dragon, while Astrid's back was still turned. His eyes went wide. Ivy was gone! He quickly searched the premise, trying to avoid blinking, when he gaze fell on Ivy and Toothless; tug-of-warring one of the last fish from Hiccup's basket.

He tried to hold in a chuckle. "So, you never had any trouble with Ivy's bathtime before, huh?"

"No, Hiccup," Astrid answered, with a sigh. "Is it really that hard to believe I'm actually better at something than you are?"

He tapped his shoulder and managed to get his girlfriend to turn around and see the scene he was currently have quiet hysterics over.

Her eyes met with Toothless and Ivy now hopping around in mud puddles in an obvious game of tag.

"Ivy!" Astrid yelled, running after her, bucket in hand. "No, bad girl! Get back here!"

Hiccup finally let loose the laughs he'd been holding in. "Yep, you're just that good."

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**I don't know if there's an actual name going around for Astrid's Nadder; I've just always stuck with Ivy, lol. Comments are love.**


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